A Captain for the New Age
by Rabble Rouser
Summary: Captain Harriman of the Enterprise B laments his fate


A Captain for the New Age

By Rabble Rouser

  
DATE: January 16, 2000  
  
  
DISCLAIMER: Paramount controls the known Star Trek Universe. Their spirit inspires this story.  
  
SPECIAL NOTE: This story touched off a wonderful story by Jungle Kitty, The Siege Perilous. Highly recommended.

© Rabble Rouser 2000

v v v

Oh God...Oh God. It's not fair. Why me?  
  
I am Captain John Harriman of the Starship Enterprise. Inheritor of the mantle of James T. Kirk.  
  
I wasn't Kirk's choice to replace himself--hell I wasn't even his tenth choice. He pushed for command of the Enterprise B practically anyone else who ever served under him who was now of captain's or senior commander's rank who didn't already command a starship: Uhura, Chekov, Riley, Martine.  
  
Usually a starship captain's recommendation of a successor would carry enormous weight. But Kirk had never taken advantage of his hero status to gather political power. He had defied Starfleet command time and time again and survived it because of his outrageous success and popularity with the public. If he had really used that popularity, he would be heading up Starfleet today--or even be President of the Federation. Instead, after having made admiral younger than anyone in Starfleet history, he dies decades later at captain's rank.   
  
His proteges always seemed to wind up in command of Starfleet ships, starbases, or deep space stations and disdained "riding a desk." As a result, Kirk had almost no one loyal to him among the Starfleet command staff. The man never learned how to suck up. Worse, all the admirals were quite older than him and at best were captains when Kirk had first made flag rank. Hell most people don't become Starship captains until not much younger than Kirk's age when he died. The admirals resented that and were jealous of his renown. With Nogura's retirement, Kirk had lost his most powerful protector and Nogura's successor, Admiral Finnegan, took great pleasure in thwarting Kirk and making it plain that he would welcome his retirement.  
  
I was determined not to make those kinds of mistakes. Really, a Starship captain cannot afford to be insensitive to political considerations. Our more peaceful era needs a more thoughtful, cautious approach than Kirk's. It needs leaders who work in a team spirit within the system--not a cowboy making up the rules as he goes along. Well after all what would you expect of a man barely one generation from grubbing in the dirt? I'm the son and grandson of admirals and was trained from birth for command.   
  
I had relished smiling at him and calling him a "living legend." The real definition of living legend is old relic. I watched him carefully as my little comment about studying his exploits in grade school sunk home. Taking command was my moment and it was all the sweeter for me seeing Kirk and all he represented relegated to behind the center seat. It was to be the start of a new era. A new generation was taking over.  
  
Commanding a starship should have been just the beginning for me. Unlike Kirk, I wouldn't have been satisfied with a career as a space jockey. Now it's all falling apart. After the accident, I had so many requests for transfer that if I had honored them all, there wouldn't have been enough crew left to take her out of spacedock. I refused every last one of them only to have Starfleet flooded with hundreds of resignations from ship's officers and threats to go public with exactly what they thought of the Starfleet brass and me.  
  
At the memorial service, Captain Sulu actually refused to shake my hand and turned his back on me. I overheard that bitch Commander Rand say to Chapel that: "Kirk saved the Enterprise B twice. Once by saving it from Harriman's incompetence, and second by dying and so ensuring he'll be removed from command before he can destroy the ship and take the whole crew with him."   
  
Dr. McCoy confronted me and said that he wanted me to know that Captain Scott was in shock, refused to believe Kirk had died, and was about to be forced into retirement. McCoy said he intended to live a long life and that he was going to make sure not only that I would never leave the Sol System on the Enterprise as her captain, but that I'd never have another command. Chekov and Uhura managed a chilly politeness. That should have warned me.  
  
Ever since, McCoy's face has been continuously on the vids demanding either my resignation or removal. He bitterly blames everyone from me to "Starfleet's bureaucrats" for Kirk's "stupid death." He said that for me to remain as captain would be an insult to Kirk's memory and a slap in the face of all who had ever served aboard the Enterprise. That man's mouth is a lethal weapon and he won't listen to anyone in Starfleet Command who tells him to shut up.  
  
Meanwhile my sources tell me that Chapel and Rand together have been using their contacts from when they worked in Starfleet Command to dig up some embarrassing facts about my record and how I got promoted and are leaking it to the press. For one thing, it's being aired that my reported one hundred percent mission success rate as a ship commander is based on exactly one mission mapping star quadrants. And where did Rand find that old shipmate of mine? I had managed to have him posted on one of the neutral zone outposts. That story he told about me and the Orion slave girl is not true! Well...not entirely. All of this was intercut with stories from Kirk's service record and interviews with those he saved. Am I supposed to be ashamed my political and diplomatic talents meant I spent most of my service with Starfleet Command?  
  
Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov, as active duty officers and prospective or current starship captains, should have been more circumspect, but they have turned the press interviews Starfleet ordered them to do into subtle assassinations. Each of them would have these warm little stories about Kirk--Uhura loves to tell the one about the tribbles. She always managed an artful tear or two by interview's end. Then the reporters would ask about me and their faces and voices would go flat. Chekov was asked if he saw any similarities between Kirk and me. He shrugged and said: "Vell, Harriman's not too bad looking." Sulu was even asked about how he felt about his daughter serving on my ship. His answer was classic. "I've taught Demora how important duty and discipline are and that at all times one must give the respect due the office if not the officer." When asked if they hold Starfleet command responsible for what happened, they each get these tight little smiles and in identical, slightly mechanical tones say: "We have faith in our superiors." What did they do? Practice together in front of a mirror? A few of those and Starfleet no longer asked them to do interviews. Who would think Kirk's old command crew would be so deft at political guerilla warfare?   
  
Today Admiral Finnegan informed me that unless I resign they're going to put me through a courtmartial. A courtmartial! For following orders to take her out on a little excursion without tractor beams? I admit I was a bit flustered by the emergency and politely asked for Kirk's advice. And the man, always playing the hero, did volunteer to go down and handle things. It's the captain's job to command from the bridge. Kirk often forgot that but even he conceded my place was there. It wasn't my fault! No one thinks to ask what would have become of the forty-seven passengers of the S.S. Lakul we saved if I had insisted on waiting for the tractor beams to be installed before sending the Enterprise out. What is one man's life weighed against the lives of so many? In a sense I'm more responsible than Kirk is for their rescue.  
  
My friends on Starfleet's command staff have told me the fix is already in. Vice-Admiral Areel Shaw, Chief of JAG, is personally prosecuting the case. The rumor is that either Uhura or Chekov will take my place. It looks like Kirk will have his way after all.  
  
At least I know I won't go down alone. There's nothing wrong with my political antenna. Once Kirk's adoring public and cult among Starfleet officers is through, there won't be a current member of Starfleet Command left holding flag rank--especially after that debacle with Admiral Cartwright at the Khitomer Peace Conference. Command hasn't even begun to feel the repercussions of that earthquake and now we have an aftershock. Finnegan's a fool if he thinks tossing me out to the mob will be enough to save him.   
  
And now Captain Spock has finally arrived by fastest transport from far away Khitomer and is demanding a meeting with me. Not mind you requesting--even without raising his voice that Vulcan sounded positively violent over the com link. I think not. I refuse to let him come aboard. For now at least, I'm still captain of the Enterprise.  
  
I can't believe Kirk had the utter rudeness to die on my command. How nice of him to go out heroically and leave me to pick up the pieces. I could almost suspect him of doing it just to ruin me. Why couldn't some other Starship Captain be responsible for pushing him off a cliff or something?  
  
**The End.**

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